Burner for sintering machines



Feb. 22, 1938. R. B. HORN BURNER FOR SINTERING MACHINES Filed May 14, 1937 Z SheetS-Sheet 1 U 5 Tw w w w 2% nvwsnrox I )PAZ PH .B- flak/y Br iiillllillllll Feb. 22, 1938... R. B. HORN BURNER FOR SINTERING MACHINES Filed May 14, 1957 2 Shgets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR. F141 PH ,E' HOE/V BY W ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,109,149 BURNER. Fonsm'rsnmc. MACHINES Application May 14, 1937, Serial No. 142,634

9 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of sintering and is more particularly concerned with sintering machine burners of new and improved construction.

Burners for sintering machines of the continuous type, as constructed heretofore, have, broadly speaking, consisted of; a hollow metal part or retort containing a combustion chamber and having'outlets in the bottom wall for the flames to'pass thru; and a mantle consisting of a metal shell lined with refractory bricks having their opposed faces cut away to shield and direct the flames from the retort outlets toward the charge on the pallets traveling therebeneath.

Burners of this type are not entirely satisfactory in commercial use. The bricks in the mantle are comparatively short lived and are not all of the same length of life. When some of them have to be replaced, much time and expense is involved because the mantle must be removed and cooled before new bricks can be installed. Moreover, the metal shell supporting the bricks warps quickly in use and. cannot satisfactorily be relined, and as a result, new mantles are required at comparatively short intervals of time. This maintenance expense thus becomes a considerable item in the cost of operating the sintering machine. Furthermore, a considerable space must be maintained between the bottom of the metal shell of the mantle and the top edges of the pallets to prevent excessive heating and warpage of the shell and such space permits escape of large quantities of flame and heat and correspondingly decreases the efliclency of the burner and machine.

The present invention provides a burner, and more particularly a mantle for a burner, for sintering machines of the continuous type which avoids the disadvantages of the prior burners, which is much longer in life, which permits independent replacement of any of the bricks thereof; in which the bricks of the mantle can be very quickly and cheaply replaced, and which, additionally, increases the emclency of the burner and sintering machine considerably because the flames can be brought into better contact with the charge on the pallets therebeneath. In other words, the present invention not only reduces the cost of construction and maintenance of bumers of the class described, but also increases the efllciency and thereby lowers the cost of operating sintering machines of the class described.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in along the rods by spacers I5.

section, of one form of burner embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view, partly sectioned on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

' Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged view showing one 5 of the hangers for suspending a brick of the burner mantle of Fig. l; and, I

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of one of the mantle bricks of Fig. 1

In Figs. 1 and 2 the rods I are secured to super- 10 structure (not shown) and carry a supporting frame consisting of two parallel I-beams 2 and cross angles 3. This framework may be raised or lowered by adjustment of nuts 4 on rods l.

A more or less conventional burner or retort 15 5 is disposed between the I-beams 2 and is supported on the flanges thereof. This retort consists of a metal top plate I carrying a pipe flange 6 thru which a pipe 8 enters to deliver combustible material into the retort, and a bottom plate 9 secured to the top plate I and forming therewith .a combustion chamber Ill. The bottom plate 9 of the burner or retort isprovided with a plurality of downwardly extending outlets ll thru which the flames from the combustion chamber i0 may project.

Rods 1 l2 extend beneath the I-beams and are connected thereto, as by brackets l3. These rods 12 carry a plurality of brick supporting brackets H which brackets are spaced from each other It will be noted that the brackets ll may swing or pivot about rods i2 independently of each other.

The lower portion of brackets 14 are twisted thru 90 degrees and at their extreme lower ends have welded thereto short plates l6 of a size and shape suitable to enter holes in the bricks I! which are provided therefor.

The bricks I! which are supported by the hangers I4, are generally rectangular in side eleva tion, but have concave upper corners l 8 and have their lower inner faces cut away as at l9. Each of these bricks has a narrow opening Na in its top portion to accommodate the lower portion of a hanger l4 and a horizontally enlarged opening "b to receive the part 16 of the hanger i4. When the hanger H with its brick is swung outwardly until the brick clears those on opposite sides thereof, the brick may be slid off the part l6 and replaced by another brick. When opposed bricks I! are in assembled position with respect to part 9 of the retort 5, the surfaces l9 will constitute prolongations of the flame outlet 0pen-' lngs II from the combustion chamber In and will serve to shield and direct the flame downwardly onto the charge to be sintered.

The bricks 20 which close the ends of the spaces between the parallel, opposed rows of bricks II, are supported on brackets 2| swingably or pivotally mounted on cross rods 22 secured to beams 2 by brackets 22a. Levers 23 each carrying a weight 24 on one arm and a brace 25 on the other arm are pivotally mounted on rods 20 secured to opposite ends of the retort 5. Each brace 25 is pressed against the adjacent end brick 20 by the weight 24 on lever 23, but when the weight 24 is lifted the pressure of the brace 25 against the brick 20 is released and the block may be swung about its supporting rod 22 and removed from the hanger 2i if desired.

In assembling the mantle proper of the apparatus just described, the bricks II are placed one after another on their hangers l4 preferably with the application of a suitable mortar to their broad faces, and when all the bricks ll of bothrows have been so assembled, the end bricks 20 are placed in position with mortar sealing. the

joints between these bricks and bricks II. The

levers 22 are rotated to bring the braces 25 into pressing relation against the bricks 20.- When the mantle is to be replaced, the end bricks 20 are first removed as above described and then the side bricks l1 are removed by breaking the mortar between them and sliding them oi! their hangers i4. If it is necessary to replace only a few of the bricks II, this may readily be accomplished by raising one or both of the weights 24, swinging the brick or bricks to be removed on their hangers about their rod l2 and then substituting a new brick or bricks, preferably with mortar applied to their side surfaces, and then swinging the new,

brick or bricks and their hangers into place, after which the weights 24 may be lowered.

It will be understood that the bricks herein described should be composed of good refractory material and that they'should be capable of enduring the high temperatures to which they are subjected for prolonged periods of time without spalling or breaking. However, by reason of this invention considerable spalling may take place without interferingseriously with the operation of the burner or retort, for the bricks are preferably bonded to each other by the intervening layers of mortar and are pressed tightly against each other, and moreover, are supported independently of the retort.

It will further be noted that the mantle of this invention does not require or depend upon any metal shell for support of the bricks and does not require any such metal shell at the place where it would be subjected to the high heat of the burner flames and hence a retoriLJnay be provided many times with a mantle of new bricks or any of the bricks of the mantle may be replaced independently of the others if and when desired.

The higher sintering machine efficiencies made possible by this invention are traceable to the fact that the present invention eliminates metal shells from the mantle and thus permits the lower side of the mantle to be maintained close to the upper edge of the moving pallets, -one of which is shown in outline in Fig. i, where it is designated by reference character A. When the space between the mantle and the pallets is large, considerable quantities of flame and heat can escape thru this space and the effectiveness of the flame, as regards ignition of the charge, is thus decreased. With the present invention this loss is reduced considerably as compared with prior burners and the efliciency of the burner and sintering machine is increased.

Having thus described my invention so that those skilled in the art may be able to practice the same, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A burner for a sintering machine of the continuous type comprising a retort having a combustion chamber and a plurality of flame outlets extending thru the bottom thereof, and amantle for said outlets comprising a plurality of individually supported bricks.

2. A burner for a sintering machine of the continuous type comprising a retort having a combustion chamber and a plurality of flame outlets extending thru the bottom thereof, and a mantle for said outlets comprising a plurality of pivotally supported bricks.

3. A burner for a sintering machine of the continuous type comprising a retort having a combustion chamber and a plurality of flame outlets extending thru the bottom thereof, and a mantle for said outlets comprising a plurality of individually and pivotally suspended bricks.

4. A burner for a sintering machine of the continuous type comprising a retort. having a combustion chamber and a plurality of flame outlets extending thru the bottom thereof, a mantle for said outlets comprising a plurality of bricks, and movable means for pressing the bricks against each other.

5. A burner for a sintering machine of the continuous type comprising a retort having a combustion chamber .and a plurality of flame outlets extending thru the bottom thereof, a mantle for said outlets comprising a plurality of individually and swingably supported bricks, and means for pressing said bricks against each other when in assembled position.

6. A burner for a sintering machine of the continuous type having flame outlets in the lower portion thereof, means for suspending the retort bricks on said end brick hangers and constituting the end walls of said mantle, and means for pressing the said end bricks against the rows of side bricks and the side bricks against each other. 7. A mantle for a sintering machine retort comprising opposed rows of bricks having flame passages therebetween and means for swingably supporting said bricks independently of each other.

8. A mantle for a sintering machine retort comprising opposed rows of bricks having flame passages therebetween, bricks at the ends of said rows, and means swingably supporting each of the bricks of said mantle independently of each other.

9. A mantle for a sintering machine retort comprising T-shaped, brick, supporting hangers, opposed rows of bricks having .flame passages therebetween and having openings in their upper portions to receive said hangers, and means for pressing the bricks of said rows against each other.

RALPH B. HORN; 

